The Lisbon treaty still has a long way to go in Prague

Following a lengthy tug-of-war the EU's Treaty of Lisbon cleared its first hurdle in Prague after the Czech Republic's lower house of parliament approved it on Wednesday. But the wait for final ratification could be a long one, writes the liberal daily Mladá fronta Dnes: "In the Senate [the parliament's second chamber] the vote could be even more difficult because the opponents of the treaty in the strongest parliamentary party [the liberal-conservative ODS] wield great power there. And then there's President Václav Klaus. He has repeatedly stressed that he wants nothing to do with the treaty until the Irish change their mind after the failed referendum. It is therefore still uncertain whether the treaty will be definitively ratified in the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency until the middle of the year. … No one can force Klaus to sign. The Lisbon treaty is not like a regular law where the parliament can override a presidential veto if necessary."

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